Em-URGE-ing Voices

Your urgent thoughts, urging action.

 

Kansas Law Creates a Bounty for Trans Students

Mar 29, 2016 / Nigel Morton / Our Folks Blog

This month, the Kansas state legislature passed two bills that pay students to openly discriminate against their trans peers. Unfortunately, Governor Brownback signed both bills into law. One of them forces institutions to pay religious student organizations for partaking in active exclusion of any group under the guise of religious liberties. The second effectively places a bounty … Read More

#BlackLivesMatter at Texas State

Mar 29, 2016 / Hanna Foster / Our Folks Blog

On Monday, #BlackLivesMatter co-founder, Opal Tometi, spoke to students at Texas State University. Tometi, a keynote speaker for a series of talks Texas State University is hosting about diversity, spoke about her experience as a social justice advocate and activist. The event took place in the LBJ Ballroom on campus. The ballroom was filled with … Read More

Alabama Debates Anti-Choice Amendment

Mar 28, 2016 / Jason T. Frost / Our Folks Blog

While most of Alabama has spent the past few weeks following the sexual misconduct scandal surrounding Governor Bentley, the Alabama House of Representatives quietly began debating a resolution that would add an amendment to the state constitution claiming that life begins at conception. The bill was sponsored by Decatur representative, Ed Henry, with five speakers … Read More

My Premature Birth and Pro-Choice Activism Are Not at Odds

Mar 24, 2016 / Guest Blogger / Our Folks Blog

In my final semester of college, I had to make a film. With my degree in sight and 16 years of academic struggle and achievement behind me, I decided to make it about the people who made it all possible: my parents. I told the story of my parents’ decade-long struggle to have a child … Read More

Let's Shout About Birth Control!

Mar 23, 2016 / Caitlyn Martin / Our Folks Blog

Today, the Supreme Court will hear the oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell, yet another case involving reproductive health. The case is comprised of seven lawsuits, with religiously-affiliated nonprofits arguing against the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell. This issue has already made its way through appellate courts, with … Read More

Stop Telling Me What to Do

Mar 22, 2016 / Hanna Foster / Our Folks Blog

This is an open letter to men (and women) everywhere. Stop telling me what to do. I’m so tired of seeing posts all over social media telling women what to do. Stop bullying me and trying to force me into becoming a girl who hates herself. Each comment you make is like a double-edged sword in … Read More

Perspective: It's Time to Allow Foreign Doctors to Provide Care

Mar 21, 2016 / Jason T. Frost / Our Folks Blog

Though many religious leaders say it is not required given the circumstances, diabetic and pregnant Muslims often try to celebrate Ramadan with both fasting and prayer. This practice requires the supervision and care of a culturally-competent doctor who understands both the medical issues that could spring up from fasting as a diabetic or mother-to-be, but also … Read More

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Can Improve the Workforce

Mar 18, 2016 / Kristen Barton / Our Folks Blog

We know far too well that discrimination comes in many shapes and forms, and too often it happens to pregnant people in the workforce. All over the country, people are being denied jobs because they are expecting or losing their jobs while pregnant because of a lack of accommodations. Earlier this week the Pregnant Workers … Read More

Don't Be Fooled, Charter Schools Don't Fix Public Education

Mar 17, 2016 / Carley Towne / Our Folks Blog

If you’re even remotely interested in what’s going on in our public education system, chances are you’ve stumbled across the whole public school vs. charter school debate. And, if you’re like me, you’ve probably been on the fence about charter schools, mostly because they’re confusing! What even is a charter school? Charter schools, like public … Read More

If you’re even remotely interested in what’s going on in our public education system, chances are you’ve stumbled across the whole public school vs. charter school debate. And, if you’re like me, you’ve probably been on the fence about charter schools, mostly because they’re confusing! What even is a charter school?

Charter schools, like public schools, are publicly funded, but they’re not governed by school districts or school boards. Instead, they’re run by businesses, non-profit organizations, or groups of people who write a charter and secure funding. Unlike sate-funded public schools, charters are allowed to exclude students that live within the area based on things like their special education status or test scores. Those who support charters argue that they’re a great alternative to “traditional” public schools because they offer parents and their kids the opportunity to “choose” where they go to school.

This rhetoric of “choice” and “innovation” has been used by charter school proponents as a catch-all response to a whole host of grievances that people have about our current public education system.

But, let’s be clear about what’s really going on here. We’re transferring control of school curriculum and policies to a group of people who are not accountable to the communities in which they operate. In some cases, these charters even profit off of how efficiently they manage their school’s finances. For all their talk about improving schools, in reality, charters have created more racially segregated student populations, increasingly relied on standardized test scores as the sole metric of student achievement, and increased the number of single sex schools that incorporate sexist stereotypes into their curriculum.

I think part of the reason why it’s so hard to see through charter school rhetoric is because there is a lot of confusion about charter schools. But once you learn more about how charter schools are run, it’s pretty hard to stay on the fence.

After reflecting on why I could ever even consider charter schools as a viable alternative, I realized that being convinced by the rhetoric of charter schools is kind of like that time I was sure the chorus to Elton John’s Tiny Dancer was “hold me closer, Tony Danza.”

I mean, just hear me out.

It all sounds right. “Hold me closer Tony Danza” makes sense. Elton John is gay and I guess Tony Danza was a heart throb at one point? That’s cool, Elton John; you do you. And yeah, when I first heard that charter schools want to improve the public school system I thought, yeah, a lot of our public school policies do suck.

But then you listen a little closer, and when you really learn the words, the system stops making sense.

So, apparently, in that song, Elton is actually singing “hold me closer tiny dancer.” Hold me closer tiny dancer? That’s weird. That lyric doesn’t really make any sense. How does that relate to the rest of the song, Elton John?

Same goes for the rhetoric that charter schools use. When I really started to listen to the solutions for public education, I realized they made about as much sense as “hold me closer tiny dancer.” For charter schools, the solution to problems that plague our public schools is to privatize schools and break up teacher unions? Wait, what? That’s not a good idea. That’s not a good idea at all. Tony Danza would not approve. (FYI I actually don’t know where Mr. Danza stands ideologically, but I’m feeling optimistic.)

All of this isn’t to say that there aren’t a lot of problems with the way our public schools are currently run. But those problems won’t be solved by treating our schools like businesses with a bottom line. Instead, we should pursue solutions that transfer power back into the hands of communities. Rather than focusing on so-called “school choice,” we should be concerned with making sure that students and parents have a say in what goes on in their schools and that they have access to educational resources regardless of income.